4WD drivers really as bad as we thought

FOUR-WHEEL-DRIVE owners, already seen as a road menace, are more
dangerous than we thought, a study of more than 40,000 vehicles has
found.

A person behind the wheel of one is far more likely to be
wielding a mobile phone while driving, and less likely to wear a
seatbelt, researchers say. They have concluded that
four-wheel-drive owners take more risks because they feel
safer.

But that distorted logic is a threat to the safety of everyone
on the road, says Lesley Walker, a research associate with Imperial
College London's primary care and social medicine department.

Along with Australian researchers from the University of
Queensland, Ms Walker observed the drivers of 38,182 cars and 2944
four-wheel-drives at three varied sites in London.

They found the 4WD drivers were almost four times more likely
than car drivers to be using a mobile phone, and 26 per cent more
likely not to wear a seatbelt.

Describing four-wheel-drives as "lethal weapons", Ms Walker said
the findings were relevant to Australian cities, where large 4WDs
were common. "There is no reason the risk-taking behaviour is not
the same."

She said "breaking one law was significantly associated with
increased likelihood of breaking the other". Previous studies from
the US, Britain and Australia have shown that using a mobile phone
while driving is associated with a fourfold increase in the risk of
having an accident.

That means drivers of four-wheel-drives are 16 times more likely
to have an accident than other drivers because they are four times
more likely to use a mobile while driving, she said.

"Although 4WD vehicles are safer in a crash, their owners may be
placing themselves and other road users at increased risk of
injury," she said. "They take the risk because they are higher up,
they feel they can see better but the person in a car or the
pedestrian on the road has a much worse outcome."

A member of the Bushrangers Four Wheel Drive Club in Victoria
said 4WD drivers were used to the criticism, "but it doesn't sound
right to me at all. I wear a seatbelt, I don't talk on my mobile
while I'm driving."